Organic Tea

A universal drink, tea owes its popularity to its reputation as a refreshing beverage, its versatility in modern cuisine, and the health benefits associated with it. Concepts such as ‘tea meditation’ are finding followers across continents. With an ever-increasing demand for this flavoursome, aromatic brew, Tea Board, India is focussing on upping production and export quantities of Indian organic tea.

The Board’s January-December 2021 exports statistics show that 195.50 million kg of tea travelled from India to several countries including the Russian Federation (34.09 million kg), Iran (26.98 million kg), United Kingdom (9.91 million kg), UAE (17.08 million kg), and the US (14.26 million kg)—bringing in Rs 5246.89 crore in value terms. An intrinsically labour-intensive industry, the government is attentive to tea growers’ concerns such as crop insurance, employment generation, and profitable returns.

The Government of India, through the Tea Board, has initiated several programmes and offered incentives to promote the organic cultivation of tea:

  • It offers a 25% higher capital subsidy on investments for new planting/replanting/replacement or conversion from conventional to organic farming.
  • 75% of the cost of organic certifications (subject to a ceiling of `1.5 lakh per certificate including on renewal of certificate per annum) is borne by the government in case of SHGs/cooperative of SHGs setting up an organic tea factory.
  • A tea factory applicant for organic tea production gets an additional 25% on the differential cost of production, compared to a conventional tea factory.
  • The subsidy is provided for organic certification at @50% of the certification fee subject to a ceiling of `1 lakh per certificate including renewals per annum.
  • The government is also educating small tea growers on the benefits of organic tea cultivation and helping them build capacity.
  • Tea Board ensures participation in international trade fairs for organic products, such as Bio-fach, Germany; Bio-fach, India; Gulf Food, Dubai; and Foodex, Tokyo.
  • Buyer-seller meets are held to spread awareness about organic tea.